AJ Hoggard was once the talk of East Lansing and a rising star in the Michigan State basketball program but a letdown during his junior season led to him transferring to Vanderbilt.
Hoggard wasn’t playing horrible basketball, by any means, but he wasn’t consistent enough at the point guard position to convince Tom Izzo that he was capable of keeping his job over Jeremy Fears. I think the rotation would have worked out, but it was better for Fears’ growth that Hoggard left before the 2024-25 season.
The Pennsylvania native went to Vanderbilt to finish his collegiate career, but he saw his numbers dip to 9.6 points and 4.6 assists per game.
Everyone wishes he would have worked out in East lansing and I truly believe he was a solid point guard but the lack of consistency was just frustrating for everyone, including himself. He always seemed to be on the wrong side of Izzo tirades and his body language was always a talking point, but when he was one, he was really good.
Well, this streaky play has made its way to the NBA Summer League.
Not many Spartan fans realized that he was playing on Sunday night before Carson Cooper’s Grizzlies took on Yaxel Lendeborg’s Warriors in the Summer League Championship, but he had himself a familiar performance for the Raptors as they lost to the Denver Nuggets.
Hoggard’s final line was oddly familiar to Spartan fans:
- 6 points
- 9 assists
- 2-for-12 FGs
- 0-for-4 3-point FGs
- 1 turnover
- 2 steals
That feels awfully like several final lines looked like for Hoggard during his Spartan career, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. When he wasn’t scoring and his shot was off, he was making plays for teammates like he did on Sunday with his nine assists. He was cold from the floor but was a crafty playmaker and got his hands dirty on the defensive end.
I’m not going to lie, sometimes I miss the chaos.
AJ Hoggard nearly had it all at Michigan State
When Hoggard was a freshman at Michigan State, Hoggard got to sit back and learn during the COVID-19 season. It was the perfect opportunity for him to take notes and grow his basketball IQ.
As a sophomore, he showed flashes of being that next star point guard, averaging 7.0 points and 4.8 assists, but his points mostly came at the rim. He improved once again as a junior, even hitting 33 percent of his threes. Hoggard averaged 12.9 points and 5.9 assists and was one of the most improved players in the Big Ten, setting up for a massive senior year.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. He took a step back and the already-struggling shooter saw his field goal percentage go from 44 as a sophomore to 42 as a junior and then 41 as a senior.
If he continued to get better overall like he did from his sophomore to his junior year and he shrugged off the bag plays a little more, we may have talked about him as one of the best point guards that Izzo had ever coached. Unfortunately, consistency cost him.
He could have had it all at Michigan State.
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